Physical Analysis of the Centrifugal Microencapsulation Process

Centrifugal microcapsule synthesis has been shown to be a promising technique for microencapsulation, satisfying at the same time many requirements needed for biomedical applications (controlled monodisperse size, spherical shape, sterile production environment) and allowing a high capsule production rate, using only conventional lab material. Although efforts have been made over the past decade to optimize centrifugal devices, so far only one stage of the capsule synthesis process has been accurately characterized from a physical and mechanical point of view. In this work we provide the first complete description and modeling of the entire centrifugal encapsulation process, by carefully analyzing all its stages using a combined experimental and analytical approach. This results in defining novel global models and a flow diagram of the process. The analysis and models introduced here are expected to contribute to the understanding, design, improvement, and optimal operation of current and future centrifugal microencapsulation devices. Results obtained for void capsules (beads) are confirmed by experiments on capsules with cargo.